One of the major issues facing businesses today in this globalised world is how to attract, develop and retain the right talent.

And while money is of course important, professional development, career progression, job status, and the intrinsic value of work all play into this, making it all the more challenging for HR departments.

But this problem is not limited to businesses. Schools and the education systems the world over are facing the exact same challenges.

Research shows the importance of talent: New Zealand academic Professor John Hattie undertook a meta-analysis of half a million studies from around the world and concluded the most important in-school factor for student achievement was the teacher. 

Not class sizes, not school journals, not a fancy new gym. Businesses know their most important resource is people, and this is echoed exactly in education.

Our schools tend to have an anti-business bias, yet there are aspects of business models the education system can learn from. 

Successful businesses know how to strike the balance of meeting employer and employee needs. Employers who want to employ bright and motivated team members offer those staff development opportunities that meet the needs of the employee and the business alike.

Our research has confirmed that jurisdictions with world-class education systems, like Singapore and Finland, follow a similar approach: attract the best and brightest, and develop them to their full potential. It is not a problem isolated to education - it is a human resource question.

Our research into teacher quality points to problems in the system that could be better designed to attract the best to the teaching profession, offer opportunities so that people can develop their full potential, and retain those who excel in helping kids do well in school.

But sadly we've found some major systemic issues. A 2006 report by Ruth Kane and Mary Mallon found that the status of teachers in New Zealand was far too low. Morale is also dropping fast: The New Zealand Council for Education Research (NZCER) found that secondary-school teacher morale slipped from 70% in 2009 to 57% in 2012.

It has been a negative time in education in the last couple of years, but to ensure that teaching is an attractive profession, those responsible must work with teachers to build a more positive work climate.

The obvious benefit is happier teachers, and better classroom performance, but it also sends a signal to bright young students that teaching is an attractive career option. Despite the negativity, the NZCER study also found that 90% of teachers enjoy their job. Based on this, it's not going to be overly difficult to improve the attractiveness and status of the profession

We have some excellent teachers in our system, but we are losing some of the best because the career path for teachers is sorely lacking.

Aside from going into school administration, there is little opportunity, challenge, and recognition for a teacher to further develop their skills and capability, or to share their skills and capability with their colleagues to strengthen the whole profession.

The maximum salary point is reached after eight years and this sends a strange signal: teachers have reached their maximum ability after eight years.

The other issue with the salary scale is that teachers move up almost automatically each year until they reach the maximum. While this recognises experience, it does not recognise excellence above and beyond what might be expected by years in the job alone.

While we have an oversupply of teachers at present, as the ageing teacher workforce moves into retirement, it will become ever more important to build an attractive career and strengthen the teaching profession.

In the words of a South Korean policy maker quoted for a McKinsey & Company report: "The quality of an education system cannot exceed the quality of its teachers"

Source: HR challenges not limited to business